Masks mandatory in England schools amid Omicron spread

Secondary school students in England will be required to wear face coverings in classrooms amid the spread of the Omicron variant of COVID19 the UK government said on SundayThe rules which bring England in line with other parts of the United Kingdom are to be brought in on a temporary basis in time for students to return to classrooms after the Christmas holidays next weekPupils are also being asked to take part in onsite rapid COVID tests and to get their vaccines if due before the start of the new termldquoThe Prime Minister Boris Johnson and I have been clear that education is our number one priority These measures will bolster our support to schools as we do everything in our power to minimise disruptionrdquo said UK Education Secretary Nadhim ZahawildquoThere is no doubt that the Omicron variant presents challenges but the entire education sector has responded with a Herculean effort and for that I thank each and every one of yourdquo he saidThe classroom rule which does not include teachers will apply until a review planned for January 26French authorities had announced Saturday that children six and older will have to wear masks in indoor places open to the public as new cases of the highly contagious omicron variant surged past 200000 for the fourth consecutive dayThe British government also announced it would make 7000 air cleaning units available to schools and colleges as part of efforts to tackle the spread of OmicronJudge blocks COVID vaccine mandate for Head Start program in the USUS President Joe Biden cannot require teachers in the Head Start early education program to be vaccinated against COVID19 a Louisiana federal judge ruled Saturday handing a victory to 24 states that had sued the federal government US District Judge Terry Doughty wrote that the Biden administration unlawfully bypassed Congress when ordering that workers in Head Start programs be vaccinated by January 31 and that students 2 years or older be masked when indoors or when in close contact outdoors Head Start is a federally funded program that promotes education for children under the age of 6 who are from lowincome familiesFrancersquos cumulative cases top 10 mnThe cumulative number of COVID19 cases in France on Saturday surpassed the 10 million mark with 219126 new cases detected in the past 24 hours According to the French government and the Public Health Agency France has registered a total of 10191926 infections with coronavirus since the beginning of the pandemic in the country It is the fourth consecutive day that France reported a daily count of over 200000 COVID19 casesResearch station in Antarctica hit by COVIDA research station of Belgium in Antarctica has been hit by an outbreak of Covid19 even after workers were being fully vaccinated Since December 14 at least 16 of the 25 workers at the Princess Elisabeth Polar Station have caught the virus the BBC reported648672 No of new cases reported globally in the past 24 hours289378938 Total no of cases worldwide5442113 Total no of deaths worldwideThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever